Nevermind the case that he presided over, the fact that American voters can recall judges over controversial rulings is absolutely ridiculous and is just a big fuck you to the rule of law. This effectively sets a precedent that judges ought to be more concerned with the public opinion of a case, rather than the actual circumstances of the case.
Its sorta also the idea that it might keep them more honest, that if they screw around and don't do things right then they'll lose the posting. That's the double-edge of frankly everything political.
this was a very special case, and the bar for a recall is very high. the judge in this case took what should have been years in prison and tossed it out and gave the lightest possible sentence to someone who raped a woman.
It's both good and bad. Abuse it like any other power and it will be bad but use it right like in cases like this and it will be a valuable option for when things don't work out correctly.
This is the first time it’s happened since the 70’s. It sets a precedent that the public is not willing to tolerate judges that flaunt the rule of law and give prettyboy white guy college atheletes preferential treatment AFTER RAPING SOMEONE.
If people can vote to put a judge in, why can't they vote to take a judge out?
You could make the same argument about governors, congressmen, presidents, and literally any other elected position. Anyone who's subject to re-election or recall has to balance their own judgment with some measure of what the public wants, that's the nature of representative democracies.
Judges being voted in, and having to campaign is one of the most fucked up things I can think of.
Unlike politicians or other roles, Judges have an immediate, day of judgement(For lack of a better word) effect on the world and citizens around them. Having judges who have a tenous at best understanding of legal procedures, case law, precedent, and legalese itself is just asking for trouble.
Might be particular to the south, but there's a ton of ridiculous elected positions. State supreme court, local courts, state auditor, state treasurer, county coroner, county commission, county sheriff, etc.
I really cannot express my disgust at a recall going through over an unpopular but entirely legal ruling, that lead to the State's Penal Code being reworked to prevent such a future ruling.
You might as well replace judges with public ballot-juries.
Those who represent the people by necessity having to fear their opinion of them lest they be removed from office is a core feature of a democratic republic, not a bug.
I'm so glad that judges can be voted out. I've seen so many egregious abuses of power, which I assume career judges carry out through their term. Usually I'm on the side of restorative justice and lighter sentences, but this judge is a prick.
It's been shown over and over that you have empathy with people that look like you, and here the judge clearly relates to being an athlete. Didn't he sentence a black man to a similar crime with double and a half the sentence? Systemically it's so broken that I hope that even bringing younger people can act as a band aid while reform or something new comes about.
from what I understand, not everybody can actually run for the office of a judgeship, like you have to have some legal qualifications to qualify. in ohio for example, my state, one has to have served at least 6 years in a legal practice
the only exception is mayors court which can be served by a mayor, which doesn't require any qualifications, though they are quite limited in judicial power
its actually better than what we do federally where the sitting president can nominate anyone so long as the senate rubber stamps them. the whole process has gotten so hopelessly partisan and run by outside groups like the federalist society that the courts will only grow increasingly partisan and arbitrary unless we change the whole nomination system to something like a slate of judges is recommended, one that is bipartisan in size, and the president either nominates it or blocks it entirely
When Your Judge Isn't A Lawyer
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